Oil "gouging" should be allowed

jonk

Ok. So we've all seen the stories of places charging $3, $4, $5 a gallon. I say that there is nothign illegal about it! I mean, station owners are trying to resell for a profit. If they think they can get $5 a gallon, that's their perogative; they are smoking something if they think they actually can GET that much, when competitors down the street are selling at a third the price, but hey, stupidity isn't a crime. In short, a station buys gas from the distributor, it is his; he can do what he wants with it. If he wants to sell it, fine. If he wants to try to sell it expensive, fine. That's the way the free market works. Capitalism will ensure the guy at $5 per sells zip, making zip, while his neighbor $1.75 makes a lot, as he sells so much more volume. Again, government is getting its fingers into something that the market would take care of in short order. gougers would quickly go under anyway.One thought- had just one person on board those planes had a handgun and permit, the hijackers would have suddenly looked quite silly with their knives. More guns, not fewer, is the answer.

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Wenn alles richtig ist, dann stimmt 'was nicht. -Nena (When everything is going right, something is bound to be wrong.)

admin

Most states have 'usury' laws to prevent such gouging.

Kadaver

its not right because station owners only raised the price to add to an already tense situation in order to profit from it. I think it is SICK that station owners would take advantage of this national tragedy by tripling prices of gas! BULL$&%#!

ghotie_thumper

I disagree completely. I live out in the sticks and we have 2 gas stations within 20 miles of here. After that you have to go another 60 miles to get to one. So far gas is at the normal 2 bucks a gallon. It would not be right for these stations to gouge the locals for no reason other than to make a buck. I'm sure they could easily raise their prices to 3-4 bucks a gallon and the locals would have to buy it sometimes, but we would also fill up out of town more often and plan trips for shopping out of town because groceries are also cheaper up the road, and eventually this little place would price itself out of business.

concealedG36

The Michigan attorney general has slapped several gas stations in the Detroit area with $25,000 fines for price gouging. Some stations were charging $5.00 per gallon, and this is NOT a rumor. Yes, the market will regulate itself over time. But, preying on people who are scared during a national tragedy is immoral. What really surprises me is that many of the stations in the Detroit area who were gouging are Arab owned. Some brave mo-fos if you ask me. I'd be laying low if I remembered anything about history (Locking up Japanese Americans during WWII).G36

dakotashooter2

Not to mention it's a good way to get your station torched by some disgruntled patron.

He Dog

Hey Ghotie, since when is two bucks a gallon normal? None of the stations in NM are gouging as yet, and gas is still at $1.45

Josey1

Capitolising on the death and suffering of others is UNAMERICAN,What is wrong with these people.Jonk,say someone in a rural town in Ohio had relatives in NY who worked in the WTC's and are missing.You trying to tell me it is ok to double prices because you want to make a couple of bucks off of someones' grief driving into NY?As someone else said,that is a good reason for someone to torch your station. [This message has been edited by Josey1 (edited 09-13-2001).]

pushrod

2 bucks a gallon is not normal, $1.25 a gallon is not normal. The gas companies have been price gougeing for so long and you people have been paying their prices your brains have become fogged over, If gas dropped to $1.00 a gallon you would think you were getting a good deal HA HA HA. There is no gas shortage and no reason for the prices to be so high. The united states has become so infected with greed that it will eventually eat away at itself. The manufacturer's and retailers seem to think they can sell their goods for what ever they can get a person to pay. Lets get back to selling something for what is fair and what it is worth.